North American freight volumes continued to drop off, and on a year-over-year basis, shipment volumes were down 1.1 percent from last August. This is the third time this year freight shipments have fallen below the level for the same month in 2011. Freight volumes grew 9.9 percent during the first half of the year, but after two months of consecutive contraction, the annual growth has fallen to 8.0 percent.

The trend in North American freight volumes continues to follow the path of general malaise that the economy is experiencing, according to Rosalyn Wilson, senior business analyst at Delcan Corporation. The number of freight shipments in June was up a scant 1.3 percent from the previous month, while at the same time total freight costs declined 0.1 percent. The economy has been flat for several months and is even beginning to trend downward in terms of new orders and manufacturing output. This slowdown on manufactured goods is putting downward pressure on freight.

For those interested in transportation management, the news that truckload rates are trending flat for the time being may be good, although on a year-over-year basis, May's index registered 5.0 percent higher than for the same period last year. The continuing share shift toward intermodal is at least one reason rates are being held in check.

Cass Information Systems, a provider of transportation, utility, telecom and waste invoice payment and information services, has launched Cass Freight Claims Services, an offering that allows shippers to effectively outsource the labor-intensive process of managing freight loss and damage claims and, in some cases, increase claims recoveries by decreasing threshold levels.